


Next Day

by DemeP



Category: Here U Are (Webcomic)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-01 22:16:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19186450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DemeP/pseuds/DemeP
Summary: How I imagine the day after ch 82 going.





	Next Day

Yu Yang stared at the wall next to his bed. His eyes hurt. His head hurt, everything. It all hurt.

His roommates had tried to wake him earlier but he played ‘sick’ and said he was going to sleep more before class that afternoon. He instead just stared at the wall. He didn’t want to go back to sleep, all night had been Li Huan’s face staring back at him asking him “why?” The pain, the hurt all as clear as they had been the night before. He wiped his eyes as more tears leaked out.

-I’m a coward- that was the only answer he could come up with. He had seen how happy Li Huan had been holding hands with him on the way to the restaurant. That one smile on his face had had him dreaming about the future. Them joking with each other as they went to eat, like that other couple that passed them by. That smile that he wanted to see for the rest of his life, but it was also that smile that he feared.

That smile meant that Li Huan liked him and Yu Yang was sure that it would end up like all his previous boyfriends, images of them and their last words to him floated through his mind.

-I still prefer girls-  
-I got back together with my ex-girlfriend. It turns out that I’m not into guys.-

It would hurt more in the future, when they had been together more. When Li Huan figured out that all he felt towards Yu Yang was curiosity, maybe friendship, but nothing more. It would leave him all alone with only the memories and a hole where his heart would have been.

-Yeah cuz this doesn’t hurt at all- he thought sarcastically to himself, turning to face the dark ceiling.  
-It hurts but it is better this way. He covered his eyes with his arms. Hoping to the pressure would stop the tears long enough to get some actual sleep before he had to go to class.

beep beep beep beep

Yu Yang reached for his phone. It was almost time for class. He didn’t want to miss in fear of making his roommates suspicious about how sick he was, it would be hard to convince them he didn’t need to see a doctor if he missed class. Yu Yang had to use all of his energy to just get out of bed, glad for once that this class was only a lecture. It wouldn’t take too much energy to just sit there.

Yu Yang changed out of his bed clothes and grabbed his bag before heading to the door. He could still hear the rain that had started last night pounding away. He contemplated staying in bed when he heard how hard it was coming down, but no. He had to move on, he had rejected Li Huan and now he had to move on. He grabbed an umbrella from the stand by the door and began the trek to class.

The walk to class was as miserable as he felt. His eyes where still tender, and he couldn’t stop the sniffling. The rain showed no sign of letting anytime soon. The most he could up for was it slowing down a bit for the walk back to the dorms. When he reached the building, Yu Yang shook out his umbrella and left it outside before heading up to the room.

“Hey Yu Yang!”

Yu Yang turned at his name, seeing Lin Xiang rushing towards him, smile on his face.

“It’s been awhile since we talked, I was…Oh you don’t look too good are you okay?”  
“Just a little under the weather” Yu Yang lied, -I seem to be doing a lot of that lately- trying to force himself to smile back.

“I see. Well are you okay to be here? I could take notes for you if you need to go to the doctor” Lin Xiang stopped just before the classroom door.  
“Nah, I’ll be okay just need to get through this and I can go back to sleep.” Even his laugh sounded more hollow that usual. He hoped Lin Xiang would buy it.

“Okay but I’m sitting with you, just let me know if you feel to sick to stay and I can walk you to the nurse”

YuYang nodded, too tired to fight back.

This isn’t what he wanted. He just wanted to sit through the lecture and go back to bed. No interactions, no talking to people, nothing.

-You have to move on or this will have all been for naught. Rejecting him is supposed to save you from hurting.-

Yu Yang took a breath and steeled himself. He was going to make it through this.

The lecture seemed to take even longer than usual, he looked at his phone. 10 minutes. He couldn’t believe that he had only been in class for 10 minutes. He tried to pay attention but the rain outside was coming harder and harder.  
With each flash of lighting, that face appeared in his mind again. Li Huan looking at him, his heart visibly breaking at Yu Yang’s words. All the pain and hurt because of him, because he was too scared to lose Li Huan.

-ha. Lose him? he was never mine to lose- Scenes of them laughing after the fight at uncle’s bar, hanging out at the mall when the power went out, made his chest uncomfortably tight. Thinking about the way Li Huan seemed to be able to stare right through him, even while he was drunk, made it worse. They had gotten so close. They hadn’t even know each other a full year, but already Li Huan had become someone he looked forward to meeting.

Yu Yang’s mind drifted even further, to the things he would rather he forget. The muscles that he saw when they went to the pool, and how nice it would have been to be able to touch them. They certainly drew his eye and caused his cheeks to turn red. Even more so when the memory of the lips that kissed him, on two separate occasions apparently, coming back from uncle’s bar.  
Then there was That Dream… the day before Li Huan came back from helping is dad… of the two of them…together.

Yu Yang broke away from his thoughts when he felt a cold hand on his head.

“Excuse me Sir!” Li Xiang exclaimed, raising his other hand to get the professor’s attention.

“What is it?”

“Yu Yang has a fever and is really red, I need to take him to the nurse.”

The professor looks back at the pair and does see that Yu Yang is red and generally looks miserable.

“Yes, yes hurry up so you don’t miss the lecture too”

Lin Xiang put one arm under YuYang’s and pulled him up from his seat.

“I’m not that bad I can stay” YuYang protested, trying to pull himself back down into his seat but in a surprising show of strength Lin Xiang pulled him all the way up to his feet.

“I’m not taking no for an answer, you look like shit” the smile on Lin Xiang’s face told him that it was all in good nature but it still was enough to get Yu Yang out of the room. -Maybe I should have just stayed in bed-

The two walked down the hall, YuYang having shrugged Lin Xiang off of him, saying he was fine enough to walk himself.

“I don’t need to go to the nurse” crossing his arms, Yu Yang looked away from Lin Xiang.

“I think you do. Your face is red, your eyes are watery…”

“I’m not sick okay!” YuYang shouted, immediately feeling guilty when Lin Xiang flinched away from him.

“Sorry, It’s just.. I’m just… I’m not sick”

Lin Xiang stared at Yu Yang for a moment, his eyes searching for some answer. Lin Xiang grabbed Yu Yang’s arm and pulled him to a bench nearby. It was close to the building and provided protection from the rain.

“If you’re not sick, then it is something else. What’s happened? When we talked on the trip you seemed so happy, you were gushing about what a great boyfriend Li Huan is. Did something happen?”

Yu Yang felt his chest tighten at the sound of the others name. It hurt. He could feel Lin Xiang’s eyes on him waiting for an answer. The rain continued to pour just outside of the awning they were sitting under and Yu Yang tried to focus his eyes on the drops as they fell from the sky. After a moment, Lin Xiang spoke again.

“I had thought that after our last conversation, we could both talk about what is in our hearts, we could share the hardships we came across” it was spoken quietly in comparison to the rain but it felt just as loud to Yu Yang. Maybe talking it out would help me him move on faster. Maybe after talking about it, it would hurt less.

“I rejected LiHuan”

-wrong, that hurt so much more-

“I told him that I hated him”

-stop talking!-

“Why did you do that?” Lin Xiang asked, leaning closer.

“He was going to leave me”

“Had he said something about leaving you?”

“…no… but that is just how it works. They are interested for a bit but then they find a girl and leave”

-stop talking!-

Yu Yang wiped his eyes as the tears came once again.

“I don’t understand”

YuYang laughed. “Trust me that is how it goes with me. I love a guy and either they go for it for a little while or they don’t even know how I feel!

"Wha..”

“He was going to LEAVE AND IT WOULD HAVE HURT MORE SO I REJECTED HIM BEFORE HE COULD REJECT ME! HE WAS GOING TO HATE ME FOR MAKING HIM BE LIKE THAT! IT WAS GOING TO BE ALL MY FAULT AND I DON’T WANT THAT FOR HIM! I WANT HIM TO BE HAPPY, AND HE CAN’T DO THAT IF HE WAS WITH ME! I’M JUST STANDING IN THE WAY OF HIM FINDING THAT HAPPINESS WITH SOME GIRL! I HAD TO REJECT HIM OR…”

-SLAP!-

Yu Yang wasn’t sure when he started yelling or when he stood up but that didn’t matter, Lin Xiang has just slapped him across the face.

Lin Xiang grabbed YuYang’s shoulders and stared him in the face. “Calm down, you are getting hysterical” his voice low and soft, “breathe Yu Yang”

Yu Yang did his best to take a deep breath but the crying had started up again. Lin Xiang pulled him into a hug and gently stroked his hair, “Shush. Shush. It’s okay.” Lin Xiang pulled Yu Yang back down to the bench and gently had him sit on his own.

“Now slowly, had Li Huan said anything about leaving you?”

“…no… But!”

“ahh, that is not what I asked, had he said anything?”

“no” Yu Yang remembered when Li Huan was drunk and whispered in his ear “It can only be you. Every single day, I wanna see you. I don’t want you to dislike me. I don’t want tl make you sad” Yu Yang felt the heat in his chest returning the more he thought about it. “I want you to like me, is that impossible?”

Moving to make eye contact and pull Yu Yang back from his thoughts “do you not like him anymore?”

The enjoyment of holding his hand, the excitement of meeting up with him, the way that Li Huan always seemed to know what he was really feeling. All of these moments still left him feeling warm. It was painful, but warm.

“No…that is not it”

“When was was the problem?” Lin Xiang asked earnestly “because honestly, I don’t see one”

Yu Yang stared at Lin Xiang, taking in his words.  
He was right. There was no problem. Just him overthinking. Again.

Then it hit him, square in the chest.

“I rejected him…” Yu Yang felt all the anguish that he had caused himself and imagined what it must be like for Li Huan right now. The guy you like flat out says he hates you, says he doesn’t want you to look at him. It must have felt like being hit by a truck.

“that’s what you told me”

“I rejected him… I have to fix this!” Yu Yang jumped back up and pulled out his phone. Looking at the time, classes had finished for the day and with this weather most people wouldn’t want to go out so hopefully Li Huan was at his dorm, “I have to go!” he shouted over his shoulder, leaving Lin Xiang on the bench.

“Wait don’t you want…” but Yu Yang was too far into the rain to hear what Lin Xiang was saying, and he was to focused to care. All he could think about was finding Li Huan.

The paths back to the dorms where nearly empty. A few students here or there coming back form classes or going for dinner but no signs of Li Huan.

Yu Yang stopped to push his hair from his eyes and catch his breath. The combination of the rain and the heat from all his running was making it harder for him to see clearly, his glasses kept fogging up. He pulled his glasses off and tried to clean them with the inner part of his jacket, when he saw someone large hunched under a black umbrella down the way a bit.

Yu Yang shoved his glasses back on his face and took off down the sidewalk towards the figure. The closer he got the clearer the guy became, dark jacket with a white hood. Short spiky hair. Big warm hands that held his own so well.

“Li Huan!”

He shouted, out of breath as he tried to catch up. Stopping suddenly, Li Huan slowly turned to face Yu Yang. His eyes widening for the briefest moment when he saw Yu Yang stopping behind him. The look of surprise didn’t stay, it was soon replaced with sad eyes that showed all the pain that Yu Yang had imagined they would.

Li Huan turned back around and kept on walking to his dorm.

“Wait, please!” desperation clear in Yu Yang’s voice

Li Huan pauses briefly, his voice stone cold, “you said not to look for you anymore. You said you hated me” his hand tightening around the umbrella he was holding. He continued walking.

Yu Yang ran to get in front of Li Huan. Having his words repeated back at him, made him sure that this was going to be his one and only chance to fix this, or risking losing Li Huan forever. And that thought alone scared him enough to get in front of Li Huan, grab him by his jacket and shout.

“I lied! I lied! Please listen! I love you! You do make me happy! You are who I want to see everyday and who I want to hold me! I love you!”

Yu Yang couldn’t read the expression on Li Huan’s face, did he believe what Yu Yang was telling him? Was he going to take this seriously or had Yu Yang messed this up too?

Yu Yang had to show him that he was serious, so in hopes that his message would come across, Yu Yang pushed himself up to have his lips meet Li Huan’s. 

His lips where just as Yu Yang remembered, only a little cold from being out in the rain. After a second, Yu Yang realized that Li Huan wasn’t moving. It was like he was frozen. Yu Yang pulled back, looking at Li Huan’s face, hoping to find something. Terrified that he would see something that told him that he had irrevocably fucked this up. Something that would show that Li Huan still loved him despite him being the angry, stupid, horrible person that he was.

Li Huan’s eyes were staring right through him again. Yu Yang could feel them searching his face. Li Huan’s face was as stoic as ever, besides his eyes. They always seemed to show more. Right now, they showed something, that Yu Yang couldn’t name but whatever it was he hoped it meant the Li Huan believed him.

Quietly, so quietly, that if Yu Yang hadn’t been watching Li Huan’s lips he would have missed it.  
“Say it again”

Yu Yang smiled, putting all of his feelings into it, “I love you”

Quickly, Li Huan pulls Yu Yang back in for another kiss, dropping his umbrella to wrap his arms around Yu Yang.

Yu Yang smiles into the kiss as he feels Li Huan threading his fingers through his hair. His other hand resting warmly on the small of his back. Yu Yang runs his hands up from Li Huan’s jacket to his neck pulling himself further into the other, allowing the warmth to envelop his rain soaked body.

Li Huan pulls back form the kiss, all too soon for Yu Yang’s taste. Keeping him close Li Huan leans down to leave a kiss at Yu Yang’s ear.

“I love you too”

**Author's Note:**

> So I haven't really edited this. Hope it's okay.


End file.
